The year 2026 will be momentous for the United States as it celebrates its 250th anniversary. Across the country, national parks, historic sites, and cities will be preparing to appear (and show off) in ways big and small. In this context, how do you choose where to visit? Inevitably, we were overcome with some nostalgia: Route 66, for example, was easy. Next year, visitors will be able to commemorate 100 years of traveling the Mother Highway, and whether they drive along stretches in Missouri or New Mexico, they will not only see neon lighting, but will also be reminded of the role this byway has played in American history and how its story has been told. There will also be celebrations on Catalina Island, the small but alluring island off the coast of Southern California that will celebrate its own centennial as a tourist destination with some thoughtful nods to its glamorous past. We were further inspired by stories of reinvention: the former industrial cities of Portland, Oregon and Buffalo seek to write new futures anchored in cultural openings and urban revitalization efforts. And in Deer Valley, Utah, the end of one dazzling chapter (the Sundance Film Festival) simply means there’s room for a new one: in this case, the largest expansion of a ski resort in North American history.
But this list, which covers countries in North America and the Caribbean as well as Mexico, is much more than the United States or 250 years of history. The first human settlers arrived on these non-contiguous lands tens of thousands of years ago, and the entity itself is literally a layer of layers of ancient geological evolutions accumulated over billions of years. It is on one of those ancient limestone seabeds that Prince Edward County in southern Ontario, Canada, sits, giving the region’s new cool-climate wines their distinctive old-world character. PEC has long been a weekend destination for East Coast Canadians, but a host of boutique hotels, family-owned wineries and fine restaurants are sure to draw crowds from further afield. And in Jalisco, Mexico, another historically rich region, the one that gave rise to the prosperous city of Guadalajara, there is another kind of renaissance: one led by creative entrepreneurs and artists eager to pave a way for Mexico’s second city that stands apart from the ever-popular Mexico City.
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